Crafting a Career—and a Beer: UW Students Brew Up Success with Lake Louie

This spring, students in UW–Madison’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering took their classroom knowledge to the next level—by brewing beer and competing to have it produced on a professional scale.

Twelve seniors teamed up to create original recipes for an extra special bitter (ESB) beer, guided by brewing experts including Kirby Nelson, brewmaster at Lake Louie Brewing. After weeks of recipe testing and hands-on brewing, their creations were judged by a panel of professionals from Karben4, Great Dane, and Lake Louie. The top honor went to Smooth Criminal, crafted by students Michael Maggiacomo and Jackson Puent. Judges described it as a perfect fusion of approachable malt flavor and bright, balanced bitterness.

As a reward, Lake Louie scaled up the winning recipe for production at its Oconomowoc facility—with the student brewers joining the process to help kick off the brew.

Now that brewing is complete, Smooth Criminal is officially on tap at Lake Louie’s Verona taproom. Stop by and taste the student-brewed beer!